Mid Season Perk - Better Off Ted

I started watching the new ABC comedy 'Better Off Ted' quite by accident. My kitchen television is one of those sad souls that will need a digital tuner come June. Until then, I battle static and noise to get what few primetime channels I can.

As I sat down to my oh-so-gourmet dinner of Egg Beaters with cheese, I stumbled across the opening lines of 'Better of Ted', saw Portia De Rossi's swing into an office and chirp, "We want to make a metal that's as hard as steel but can bounce like rubber. And is edible."

I put down the remote.

In a tv season inundated with killer who-dun-its and reality shows, Better off Ted is just a fun jaunt into the corporate grays of the work force. Anyone who's worked for a big company can identify with being either the overworked nerd, the underpaid cubicle underling who steals creamer as a statement, or the straddling-the-line manager who deals with a boss who has lost his or her sense of reality along her way to success.

The show is simple. It's witty. It's stellar, and more than that, the characters and the actors behind them shine.

Definitely worth fastforwarding through yet another filler recap episode of American Idol or Dancing with the Stars for a half hour of Better Off Ted.

Part One:


Part Two | Part Three

It's more than a little scary that I find myself identifying with the perils of research and development employees at an immoral corporate company as much as I do, but at the very least I can laugh about it.

Even if I'm a little bitter that my boss never looked liked Portia De Rossi.

Veronica's Pearls of Wisdom

Ted: You need to lighten up.
Veronica: Maybe I'm too funny. Maybe I was joking about not getting your joke.

Veronica: We want to freeze Phil.

Veronica: I think you and I should have sex. If you want. Look at me. I'm so nervous I'm ... shaking like a leaf.
Ted: No ... no you're not.
Veronica: No. Is that a problem? I don't get nervous. I try, it just doesn't come out.

Veronica: Pretty girl. Although she makes a lot of non-work related calls. Which I think makes her less attractive.

Veronica: Did I surprise you? I didn't mean to surprise you. I'm just a friendly person.
Linda: I didn't think you knew my name.
Veronica: Of course I knew your name. I know a lot about you. Linda... Katherine... Zward... ning... ling.
Linda: It's Zwardling.
Veronica: Fine. You know your name better than I do. Yay.

Veronica: Ted. I can't have you sleeping with Linda.
Ted: What?
Veronica: It could embarrass me. Plus I may not be done with you yet.